"Ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet south. Passage turns east and west. Which way do you go?"
"We go South."
Stupefied look and momentary pause. "Okay. Bump, bump, bump."
-E. Gary Gygax to adventurers in Greyhawk Castle, circa 1972
You have now entered the realm of the LORD OF THE GREEN DRAGONS -- a "Classic Gaming" blog.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Tomb of the Dark God

The greatest thing about Scottzs COLD TEXT FILE posts was all of the speculation/imaginative inquiry that is fueled by it. Of course as the initial instigator of said DARK GOD I have my own take on it, but campaigns differ, and as they should. :)

Here's my TOMB MAP for Mssr. T (alias, the Dark God). In my "Greylands" portion of the world, it is definitely connected to the CYST, but one might say in a 'coded' sort of way.

Hey Scottsz! Don;t know why you deleted the two original Posts as there was nothing uncool about them.

Secondly, I want to properly thank you for such a fine series of entries you made. Great stuff as it spurs the imagination on. I hope you decide to post more on it or other titles, as has been suggested already in your poll.

In answer to your deleted posts. Yes, for the most part. As my article which you referenced suggests, it is a continuation of the myth (much like your inquiries are). Original link: http://www.holdfast.org/Dark_%20God.pdf

I also imagined another setting for this in the wake of his ultimate release. "The Darkest Day." Take Dark Sun and Zelazny's Shadow World and add in 500% chaos and you have the gist of that.

So, this was my puttering with the whole through Dark Druids which is the beginning part of Dark Quest. Don't know if I'll ever finish it though. Just not enough time for every thing I have imagined compared to what I want to do, so your in depth analysis was most welcome.

Sorry for the deletions... I suddenly had a fit of questions and didn't want to choke up the comments...

I was aware of your Dark Druids adventure, but not owning it I didn't make the connection to the core material inspiring WG4. (WG4's old cultists seemed to favor magic-users, but the Dark Druids were more in line with a pulp fantasy/Lovecraft kind of theme) I can understand the legalities involved in associating materials, and feel stupid that I overlooked it. I'll be getting my PDF tonight, though...

I had found the document here but still wasn't sure.. Mr. Gygax's WG4 text really didn't leave the impression of a god that would ever be 'brought into play'... just the loose ends of the Temple and the artifacts found in there... (which is more than enough for an enterprising DM to turn into trouble for characters...)

It makes sense now... The core campaign that inspired He of Ultimate Darkness spawned two 'modules' - one is complete (Dark Druids) and one still in process (The Darkest Day).

Spawning from that same core is WG4, which is a 'Greyhawk' flavored, Gygaxian 'take' on that core material...

This explains the later Gygaxian 'avatars' work on Tharizdun, and seems to confirm that Tharizdun was something like the Loc-Nar in Heavy Metal - the core concept of 'He of Ultimate Darkness' could make a presence in any and every campaign world in some form or presence or another... the idea is almost one of a 'hyper-deity'... as if the end of every cosmology was so dreadful that it manifested itself as some kind of personage...

The Darkest Day sounds like an amazing campaign set of material. I know I'd volunteer to lend a hand on that...

One question I do have remaining is of the Cult itself... Your Dark Druids concept is certainly easier to research from our history books and other materials (everything from Gnosticism to Apocalyptic cults, etc.), but what of what is presented in WG4's Temple. Was there ever a formalized body of notes about Gygax's version of the cult, or was the module (as I suspect) deliberately made mysterious to secure the mood and flavor?

Additionally, were we 'close to the mark' in regards to Gygax's writing and 'suggestive symbols'?

No thanks is necessary, Mr. K. I very much appreciate being able to put this out there and have it inspire people to 'write their own canon' going forward... It really set a positive and collaborative tone which has already proven to be contagious!

I have to rewrite the first C1 Tamoachan post, as I think readers will gain more from the 'campaign' journey through the Ruins... those tournament modules can be tricky...

"I had found the document here but still wasn't sure.. Mr. Gygax's WG4 text really didn't leave the impression of a god that would ever be 'brought into play.."

Heh. I find the assumption amusing for many, many reasons. The whole to me is suggestive that someone might attempt it. I found that the most interesting facet about all of EGG's otherwise colorful eye-candy. And not that "too many" gods had been loosed in our campaign anyway (I count 10, which includes a demoness)... ;)

Now go back in the pulps (Howard, Lovecraft and CAS stories) and count the gods/demons loosed, run into or avoided therein).

Of course Tharizdun was a special case. IMO he deserves a new setting for being loosed, for why would the gods fear him otherwise unless he was the Destroyer?

"Additionally, were we 'close to the mark' in regards to Gygax's writing and 'suggestive symbols'?"

Dunno for sure as only the great EGG could have answered that with all certainty. What we have is a myth. And myths change through the tellings and ages that pass. In my campaign I have what I imagined from the beginning, and that is all I can offer now. As you noted, "the module (as I suspect) [was] deliberately made mysterious to secure the mood and flavor...:

Many thanks for the response. I have looked over Dark Druids... Absolutely incredible material!

The mind blowing part is the 'campaign path' - brief synopses of the different parts is on page 70 for those that have it - which is light years more challenging than what's presented in WG4. I don't want to post any spoilers, but... wow.

I can understand your point about it requiring a different overall setting. After reading parts of Dark Druids, I understand the context of WG4 much more fully.

I'm amazed that your core concept of the Dark God could even be adapted to Greyhawk at all!

The mysterious and abridged nature of the WG4 text makes much more sense compared to your Dark Quest material. Many, many thanks.

Thanks for the numerous, "pregnant" compliments. I spent quite a lot of time crafting this adventure, but it never received what I perceived as a coherent review. Perhaps after your full read you can lend another POV on the matter. It would be most welcome. RJK

I was thinking the same thing! There are probably quite a few of us in the game-o-sphere who loved the 'pulp' influences of WG4 and want to know more about the core material, but might have missed the DD~WG4 connection.

As long as you're willing to give editorial advice/approval with regard to preventing spoilers, I'd be honored to write more about DD. Perhaps after our C1 Tamoachan posts?